AX-12 Smart Robotic Arm

The all aluminum AX-12+ Smart Robotic Arm is an affordable feature rich PUMA designed articulated robotic arm. The major advantage of the AX-12+ Robotic Arm over RC style arms is the ability to shut down in the event of overheating, overloading, or out-of-range voltage levels. AX-12s can also be queried in real time to report position, load, speed, voltage, and temperature.

CrustCrawler robotic manipulators can be found at many organizations from pharmaceuticals to research facilities to schools and universities. Making an investment in a robotic arm can be a daunting and expensive task.  We hope that the information presented here can help you make an informed decision.  If you have any questions please visit our community forums.  You’ll find a wealth of information and very knowledgeable folks ready to help

Aluminum Bracket System (Rigid Links)

Steel Ball Bearing Rotating Base

The AX-12+ Smart Robotic Arm is manufactured in the USA from precision cut .063 gauge 5052 brushed aluminum. Each bracket has a scratch resistant type II anodized finish in gun barrel gray. Joint brackets contain integrated PEM nuts for easy assembly and disassembly. The planar arm assembly is attached to a turntable base containing 4 carbon steel ball bearings each with a 20lbs load capacity.

Positioning and Response System

The robotic arm positioning system encompasses 5 revolute joints

AX-12 Bus Connections interconnected through a 1M bps (1,000,000 bits per second) multi-drop ½ duplex serial bus (8 bit, 1 stop bit, and no parity). Revolute joints are made up of either one or two Dynamixel AX-12 servos. The AX-12 smart robotic arm uses a dual AX-12 drive system in the shoulder and elbow joints which bear the heaviest load.

The serial bus

AX-12 Network bus consists of ground, power, and signal lines which pass through each of the 7 AX-12 to form a multi-drop serial bus or daisy chain.

Dynamixel Communication Protocol

The Dynamixel communication protocol

AX-12 Packets is an openly published instruction/status packet protocol. Instruction packets are sent from a controller to the Dynamixel network. Response packets sent from the Dynamixel network back to the controller. Since every Dynamixel AX-12 on the network is given a unique ID, only the AX-12 addressed in the instruction packet will execute the instruction. Instructions can also be broadcast to all AX-12s on the network. The Dynamixel communication protocol can be found in the Dynamixel AX-12+ manual starting on page 9.

Controller Options

CrustCrawler provides several controller options for use with the AX-12 Smart Arm; USB2Dynamixel, Propeller, and CM-5.

The USB2Dynamixel

USB2Dynamixel is CrustCrawler's most popular Dynamixel bus interface device. The USB2Dynamixel connects your USB port directly to the Dynamixel AX-12 serial network. Software running on a computer sends instruction packets to the USB2Dynamixel. The USB2Dynamixel forwards the instruction to the Dynamixel network. Response packets are received through the USB2Dynamixel controller and back to the computer. The USB2Dynamixel comes with a USB extension cable. A separate 7-10V 5A source is required to power the AX-12 network!

The CM-5

CM-5 option is designed more for novice users. This CM-5 option comes with comprehensive software (Bioloid) that makes controlling the arm very easy. The motion editor has a move and teach feature where the arm can be positioned manually and saved for later play back. The Behavior Programmer takes the motion editor one step further allowing playback of one or many saved motions files. The CM-5 option comes with a serial cable, battery pack, and 12V power supply.

Open Source Software Options

Forest Moon C# Source Code Scott Ferguson of forestmoon.com created several open source AX-12 libraries and a Control your AX-12 Smart Arm with a PC joystick Demo. Scott´s software is very comprehensive and it comes with excellent help files. .NET programmers will really appreciate the time put into these classes.

The USB2Dynamixel SDK contains libraries and example source code for VB.NET, C#, LabVIEW, MATLAB, JAVA, C/C++, and python. Download it today, heck it's free!